"Unless you are a big fan of small form-factor computing, you probably haven't been tracking the development of VIA's Pico-ITX motherboards. This form-factor was announced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, but it has been almost impossible to get your hands on an ITX motherboard and the official U.S. release has yet to happen. A few samples have made their way to reviewers and developers, but because of their rarity coverage has been sparse."

Yea, frankly the costs have always been offputting. You do pay a premium for the form factor. I've always thought about getting one of these things for the house, but the pricing always set me back.

And it's not so much the board pricing, the Mini-ITX boards aren't HORRIBLY priced, but the cases are stupidly priced as well. So the whole kit nickles and dimes you up until it's just not worth the cost for the form factor, IMHO.

Even Mac-Minis are competetive with these things, and there you get, well, a Mac!